Annapolis: This week, Senator Justin Ready (R-Carroll) introduced Senate Bill 196, a renewed effort to prohibit the state from mandatory mileage tracking devices on private vehicles for the purposes of taxation. “The government has no business monitoring the mileage of private, law-abiding citizens or their driving habits without permission. The idea of a driving tax is very troubling, particularly for those in rural areas. It’s important to mention that Governor Hogan’s administration is thankfully not pursuing this but I believe it’s important to permanently draw a line in the sand in defense of Maryland drivers,” said Ready.

“This proposal protects motorists from intrusive government and excessive taxation. The General Assembly – over my opposition – put a permanent escalator in the state’s gas tax in 2013. Adding another tax on top of what is soon to be America’s highest gas tax rate is not the direction our state needs to go in. In the search for transportation funds, we also should not leave our civil liberties behind. It is important to take this sort of government overreach off the table for the future.”

SB 196 will be heard on February 4th in the Senate Budget & Taxation Committee.